


Fix You

by Crys_Marie2oo5



Category: SHINee
Genre: Accidents, Eventual Romance, F/M, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-18
Updated: 2018-12-15
Packaged: 2019-04-24 13:21:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 20,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14356359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crys_Marie2oo5/pseuds/Crys_Marie2oo5
Summary: An Alberta clipper, a diverted flight, and the actions of two immature fools would change Jonghyun's life forever.





	1. Stuck

Jonghyun never could sleep, especially when it came to traveling overseas. He was an insomniac by nature. His diet consisted of red bull, coffee and no-doz. Speaking of which, when they got to the hotel he would have to raid the lobby and see if there was any chamomile tea if he had any chance of sleep.

Right now, however, not freezing to death in the nasty Alberta clipper that had managed to ground their flight was his priority. What international airport closed and kicked travelers out at midnight anyway? How big was this town? The airport was incredibly tiny too, having whole whopping five gates. What did the people call this city anyway, My not? Minot? Minote? He'll have to ask someone. Why they diverted the flight here was beyond him, why wasn't Denver an option?

"Hyung, our ride's here." Minho commented, pulling Jonghyun out of his own thoughts. The older man mustered a smile before nodding, acknowledging his dongsaeng. Jonghyun pulled his carryon bag along up to the curb and watched the shuttle van, which was marked blue with Hampton Inn emblazoned across the side, pull up before coming to a stop in the shuttle van lane. All five of us made our way to the van before a short black man hopped out of the van. Wait, would he say black? Or is it African American? Yeah, African American. The man was shorter than he was.

"Hey! Did you get stranded?" The man asked as he opened both back doors of the van. Key was the one who understood the most English out of all of us so Jonghyun just nodded blindly, seeing Key do the same.

"Yes! Is this normal, for flights to get diverted like this?" Key had asked.

"Oh yeah man, this weather is fucking crazy. They're calling for over a foot a snow, you don't want to be flying in that. Here, leave your bags here, I'll load them up. Why don't you guys get in the van?" The African American man said, and Key translated what he said. Jonghyun left his bag for man to load up as he followed the other guys as they began filing into the van. Key hopped in front. Jonghyun managed to snag the first row of seats with Taemin while Minho and Jinki sat in the seat behind them.

"Does anyone have any cash for the driver? I used my cash back in Chicago." Just then Jonghyun grabbed his wallet out of his back pocket to check for any American currency. Sure enough, he had three $1 bills and a twenty in Canadian having just come back from Toronto. Having handed Key his stray three dollars floating in his wallet, Jonghyun folded his wallet shut and shoved it back haphazardly in his back pocket. Jinki produced a five, Taemin gave up his last dollar and Minho mentioned he only had large bills. Jonghyun looked back at Minho.

"What do you mean you only have twenties..." He asked, narrowing his eyes at Minho.

"I stopped at an ATM in Chicago. The ATMs here only give out twenties hyung, you and I both know his." 

"Yeah but you didn't spend any of it in Chicago?" Jonghyun asked, his eyes meeting Minho's. Minho shook his head. 

"No hyung. I napped the whole time, remember?" Minho said, pulling his eyebrows together. Jonghyun made a small "o" with his lips as if he suddenly remembered. 

"Why don't we just give him a twenty from Minho?" Taemin suggested but Key shook his head. Just then the back doors were shut. 

"No, nine dollars is more than adequate." Key said, shoving the money in his pocket as the African American man hopped up in the drivers' seat. 

"Ooh, it's cold out there. You guys warm? I can crank the heat up if you need me too." Said the African American man. His name tag said 'Alpha' in red chalk. How Jonghyun didn't see it before was beyond him. 

"Oh yes. Thank you!" Key said, flashing a friendly smile at the man. 

The drive to the hotel was short as the hotel was super close to the airport. Despite the near white-out conditions, they made it safely. Key gave Alpha the nine dollars as soon as they had come to a stop under the hotel's veranda. 

"Oh, thanks man! Greatly appreciated! Let me help get your bags out." Alpha said putting the van in park and opening his door before hopping out. Meanwhile, Jonghyun had opened the side door to the shuttle van and stepped out first. The cold wind stole the breath right out of his lungs. The automatic doors to the hotel opened and Jonghyun saw a couple of luggage carts so he walked inside and grabbed one while Jinki, Minho, Taemin and Key got out of the van to procure their luggage. 

Jonghyun set out to the task of grabbing all their luggage. He might as, well right? Key was the one that knew the most English it's not like manager-hyung was there. No, he was probably on a plane to LA right now. Happens when you take separate flights, it was rare, but when they did take separate flights, shit like this happens. Alberta clippers, freak storms, random plane malfunctions. It was all the same and it only seemed to happen when they were separated from their manager. It was okay though, it freed the guys up, the next flight out wasn't until late tomorrow afternoon, so they could use the extra rest.

Upon loading the luggage cart with all the bags, Jonghyun began pushing the cart and it kept getting stuck in the drifts of snow that covered the cobblestone entrance. Seeing Jonghyun plight, Jinki began pulling on the cart as well the extra manpower helped tremendously. Key, Taemin and Minho had made it inside already. When Jonghyun laid eyes on the front desk agent, she looked giddy as if she knew who we were. Odds were, she probably did.

"Hey guys! How are you doing tonight?"

"We're great! Wow, your name badge is sparkly. Crystal. It matches your name. How fitting." Key said, as he checked out the girl at the desk. He was always good at flattery as well as cunning sarcasm. If he used flattery upon first notice, how the person responded told him immediately whether he was going to get along with the person. The lady blushed.

"Oh...thank you Key. I'm honored to even have you guys stand in front of me. I'm such a huge fan of you all. “Crystal said, as a smile line her lips. "Let's get you guys checked in huh?"

"Ah! So, you know we're SHINee then?" Key said, enthusiasm thick in his voice. Crystal nodded, blushing again before handing him two key packets. 

"Yes. “Crystal said, curtly. "I have you guys on fourth floor, in two double queen suites. Your manager asked for the largest rooms we had, and these are the largest. The elevator is right around the corner from coffee bar there. We have free hot breakfast from six to ten a.m. in the morning and the pool, fitness center, business center and suite shop are all down the hall to your left."

"Is there food in your store? “Jinki asked, looking at the young woman. She nodded.

"Yes, there's some TV dinners, microwavable soups, pizzas and hot pockets. “Jinki’s eyes widened as he began walking around the corner and Jonghyun had to shake his head at his Hyung. Food was always on his mind. Just then however, Jonghyun's stomach growled angrily at him. Perhaps getting a bite to eat would help him sleep.

He popped into the tiny store behind his hyung and upon looking at the limited selection, Jonghyun opted for a hot pocket. Philly cheese steak flavor. It would have to do. Jinki ended up getting a meat trio pizza and some kind of chicken pasta microwavable meal. I walked around the counter first and held up the hot pocket just as Key was handing Minho and Taemin the keys to their room. Crystal glanced over at Jonghyun before smiling.

"I can charge that to your room if you'd like.” Jonghyun could only nod. He still didn't feel confident enough to speak in English. His skills had improved quite a bit, but his confidence to speak wasn't there yet.

"Okay, that's fine, we have no cash anyway.” Jinki said, nodded at Crystal's suggestion. He gave her an eye smile as she smiled back and opened a drawer before drawing a small piece of paper out and writing down our items. "Do you have any utensils?" Crystal's eyes widened as she drew in a quick breath. Jonghyun's eyes fell on the woman's plump backside, admiring it for a second before deciding that he should probably walk back to the desk and find out what room he was going to be in. Jinki, catching Jonghyun in the act, wiggled his eyebrows at his dongsaeng who returned his eyebrow wiggle with a wiggle of his own. They were both men, they knew without speaking a word that Crystal was blessed. 

"Oh yes! Here." Crystal said as she reached under the counter, and now Taemin joined them in checking the woman out. Key, seeing this and being the closest to Taemin smacked the maknae's stomach with the back of his hand before whispering to the three to stop being perverts in their mother tongue. 

Crystal, not seeing this, popped back up and produced a blue Tupperware container with plastic forks and spoons inside. She snapped the lid off and handed it toward Jinki who reached in and grasped a fork and a knife. Jonghyun walked back around so Crystal could see what he had acquired in the Suite Shop. Crystal's eyes fell upon Jonghyun's items as he held them out for her in plain sight. Crystal jotted down his items on the piece of paper below Jinki's. Jonghyun then noticed she was left-handed, not that that information was important or even mattered. He hadn't realized he was staring until Crystal was boldly looking him in the eye while holding up the blue Tupperware container. Shivers ran through Jonghyun as he could feel his face heat up with both embarrassment and desire. Jonghyun then leaned forward and grasped a fork and knife out of the container.

"T-thank you Crystal.” Jonghyun managed to squeak out. Minho looked at him strangely and asked him if he was going to be okay. Jonghyun could only nod as Crystal pulled the Tupperware container away and put it back where it belonged. This time Minho and Key ogled her a bit while Key was first to break the silence.

"Well where am I sleeping tonight?" Key inquired, looking at the other guys around him. 

"It doesn't matter, pick a room. You can stay with me and Taemin or Jonghyun and Jinki. Either way, you'll be sleeping on the couch." Minho quipped with a smirk on his face. Just then Minho made eye contact with Crystal. "Have a good night. Nice meeting you." Minho said as he winked at the woman. Crystal blushed deeply. Meanwhile, Jonghyun put his food on top of his bag on the luggage cart and began hauling it toward where Crystal said the elevator was located earlier.

"G-good night you guys!” Crystal stuttered. Key smacked Minho on the stomach causing the younger to let out a huff of air and a strange cry of surprise.

"Aish, good going Minho, you made her blush." Key said, as they all began walking away from the desk. Jonghyun smirked at that, Minho did always have a way of making the girls blush. It was those huge doe-like eyes of his that got the ladies. "Let's go up to our room before we give her a heart attack." 

"Hey, hyung, we could actually talk to her without manager-hyung harping on us. She said she was a fan, didn't she?" Taemin asked as he lagged a bit behind the group. Jonghyun pressed the up arrow on the elevator silently shaking his head at his dongsaeng.

"Yes Taemin, she did. Aren't you tired though?" Key asked, looking at the maknae, who shook his head at Key's question.

"I napped on the plane. I'm kind of curious about her, aren't you?" Taemin said, rushing his steps to catch up with his hyungs.

"I'm more curious about the inside of my eyelids to be honest." Key murmured harshly, as he let out a huge yawn which didn't go unnoticed to the rest of the group. The elevator doors opened and Jonghyun went in first, with Minho helping him wheel the luggage cart into the small elevator.

"Well that's not nice." Jinki said, glancing back at Key as walked into the elevator.

"I'm dead-ass tired. If you guys want to harass her while she's trying to do her job, be my guest. As soon as I get up to the room I'm getting a shower and going to bed." Key huffed as he walked into the elevator behind Jinki.

"Oh, I didn't think about that." Taemin said, frowning. "I wonder how long she'll be working tonight?" Taemin wondered as he stepped into the elevator behind Key. The elevator was starting to get crowded.

"Why do you suddenly care?" Key asked snapping his eyes at Taemin just as the elevator doors closed. Jonghyun just stared at the metal bars that made up the rack on the luggage cart. Jinki looked at Key with a shocked expression.

"Key, stop. We should care about our fans." Jinki said, as he pressed the button with the number 4 next to it.

"We just met her and he's wanting to know her life story. If I didn't know any better, I'd say he's trying to get laid." Taemin blushed a dark crimson which caused Key to erupt into laughter. "You actually want that? She'd crush you. She's not exactly tiny Taemin."

"Hyung!" Taemin said, hiding his face in his hands, clearly embarrassed.

"He's been frustrated. I think we all have been. I saw you checking her out too Key." Jonghyun said, quickly jumping in and defending the maknae.

"I was assessing her size, not checking her out. The girl probably weighs as much as Jinki and I put together then some." Minho shook his head and shot a warning look at Key. He did notice the woman's rather larger size, but even he knew it was in poor etiquette to make fun of it.

"Key, you need to go to bed. Seriously, making fun of her while she's not here to defend herself is so unlike you. You don't know her, you don't know her struggles, " Key frowned, knowing his friend had a point.

"You're right. It was out of line. I'm sorry. I'm just tired. She seems like a nice woman. I do need sleep." Just then the elevator slowed to a stop and the door opened on the 4th floor.

"We'll unload our bags, who are going with Key?"

"I might as well stick with Taemin and Minho, they'll be downstairs harassing the desk lady all night and I'll be able to get some sleep." Key said, nudging Taemin who grew embarrassed all over again. Minho just rolled his eyes. Light conversation erupted between the guys as they followed the signs to their rooms at the end of the hall.

Jinki, and Jonghyun took 412, while Minho, Taemin and Key took 413. They grabbed their bags off the luggage cart and took them into their respective rooms. Jonghyun, and Jinki grabbed their bags and put them in 412, and Jonghyun immediately set his bag down before looking at his hyung.

"I'm going to go back downstairs and see if they have any chamomile tea. Did you want anything hyung?" Jonghyun asked, setting his bag down and setting his food on top of the counter next to the sink on the wet bar. 

"No, I think I'm okay, I still have some water from earlier, I'll drink that." Jinki said, as he plopped his bag down on the couch, before grabbing his food and beginning to unwrap it.  
"Okay, I'll be back in a few." Jonghyun said as he turned to open the door, but Jinki stopped him with a touch on his arm.

"Here. Don't forget this, I plan on passing out after I eat." Jonghyun looked down to see Jinki holding the card packet with the key cards inside to the room. Aish, yeah, he would need that.

"Aish, thank you. See you in a bit." Jonghyun said, grabbing his phone and the key packet before exiting the hotel room and making his way down the hall to the elevator. A short elevator ride later he was entering the small lobby of the hotel. Crystal was there at the desk, and their eyes met causing Jonghyun's heart to start racing a mile a minute as soon as he exited out of the elevator. Jonghyun wondered if he had the same effect on her, as she gave him a smile acknowledging his presence before turning her eyes back to the computer to continue what she was doing. 

Jonghyun turned the corner and saw the coffee bar and located the tea and glanced through the selection. Sure enough, there was chamomile. Jonghyun made himself a cup of tea, and noticed the only thing they had was sugar, raw sugar and sugar substitutes. He preferred honey in his tea. He turned around and Crystal must have noticed him looking for something as their eyes met once again the moment he faced her.

"What's up, Jonghyun?” Crystal asked, calling him by his first name and Jonghyun could feel his face flush the moment his name left her lips. 

"Do you have honey?” Jonghyun asked, the English words coming out of his mouth. Crystal eyes widened.

"Honey? Yes, I'll grab you some.” Crystal said, as she grabbed a set of keys off the desk next to her and promptly disappeared down the hallway and into the kitchen which was behind a locked door. Jonghyun, in the meantime, thumbed through the different types of teas and beverages the hotel had on offer in the lobby. Jonghyun heard the door shut and he looked up to see Crystal coming toward him with packets of honey laying inside her cupped hands. His eyes widened as he realized she had about ten packets and he only wanted one or two at the most. The elevator then dinged signifying the doors were opening and he could hear his dongsaengs rough housing on their way out of elevator. The squeaks of tennis shoes taking off on the tile floor was the only warning given of what was about to happen.

They didn't see Crystal, just how she didn't see them, the collision between Minho, Taemin and Crystal happened entirely too quickly. The honey packets were flung out of Crystal's hands as Taemin's body hit Crystal's with enough velocity to send her flying to her right, Jonghyun's left, before Minho collided with Taemin sending all three to the floor, on top of Crystal who managed to turn her body that caused her to hit the back of her head on the tile with a thundering crack. The honey packets rained down on the ground, half of them popping open and oozing their contents out onto the tile floor.

The sound was one that made Jonghyun shutter to his very core. There was no way that Crystal could be conscious. Both Minho and Taemin let out screams as Minho quickly came to his senses and realized what happened. 

"Hyung...she's bleeding!" Jonghyun snapped into action, realizing Crystal either had a bad concussion or the impact managed to crack her skull open. The amount of blood pooling from Crystal's head wasn't normal.

"Aish, get the fuck off her! What the hell you two!" Both Taemin and Minho got up off her as Minho cradled Crystal's head up off the floor and felt around.

"Her skull is fine, but she's got a nasty gash on the back of her head, and probably a concussion, should I call 119?" Minho said, his hands covered in Crystal's blood.

"Pretty sure it's 911 here Minho. Yes, call 911, I'll call Jinki, Taemin look behind the desk and see if you can see anything that looks like her boss's number."  
"Uh, I can't read English that well hyung."

"Don't make me call Key..." 

"I'll do it, Taemin come over here and keep her head elevated above her heart and try getting her to wake up. The phone is dialing 911. I'll find the number for her boss." Minho said, stepping up since he knew how to read English better than the two of them put together. His hands were covered in blood, and it dripped onto beige tiles. He grabbed some napkins from a holder next to the coffee pots and dried his hands off before racing over to the desk to find the appropriate numbers.

Jonghyun's adrenaline was going now as his fingers fumbled the keypad on his phone. Upon two rings Jinki picked up his voice sounding stuffy from having just taken a bite of food.

"Hyung, we have an issue. Minho and Taemin knocked down the front desk lady, she's bleeding everywhere...we're all having issues with reading English and trying to get her help, can you come downstairs?"

"Aish, what did you guys do now...yes, I'll be down in a few minutes. Have you called an ambulance or anything?"

"Not yet. Taemin's on the phone." 

"Taemin's English isn't that good, they won't understand him...look, I'll call 119..."

"911 hyung, America is backwards." Jonghyun said, interrupting his hyung. 

"Ah, yes. Is she conscious or anything?"

"No, she's out. Taemin knocked her over pretty hard." 

"Aish, this kid. I'll talk to you shortly." With that, Jinki hung up and the call was disconnected. Meanwhile Taemin was trying to explain the situation in very broken English.  
"Um, hi. I knocked over front desk lady, she's bleeding very badly from her head, can you send an ambulance? No, my English is not very good. She's bleeding all over, can you please help? Our address...um...I don't know, I've never been here..."

"Aish." Jonghyun muttered as he spotted some business cards on the front desk that looked like they had the address to the hotel on it. He raced over to them and took it before snatching the phone from Taemin's hands.

"Yes, hello, sorry to interrupt. The address is one four zero zero north Broadway."

"Okay, I'm dispatching the ambulance to your location, is the girl conscious?"

"Conscious? I... don’t understand..."

"Is she awake? Talking? Doing anything?"

"Oh! No. She isn't."

"Okay, do you know how old the female is?"

"Um. No. Sorry." 

Jonghyun tried so hard to talk in English. It was obvious that he wasn't fluent or sounded like he was fluent. It was frustrating.

"Okay, I've got an ambulance headed your way. Are you with the victim?"

"I am not...but..." The elevator doors opened, and out popped Key and Jinki. 

"There had better be a good reason to...Oh my God! What did you do!?!?" Key exclaimed as his eyes saw exactly how bad the situation was. Meanwhile Minho had managed to get a hold of this poor girl's boss and she didn't seem to be too pleased.

"Hello, is this Amanda? Hello! Um. I'm a guest at the hotel. My friend and I, we accidentally knocked the girl working the desk over...I'm sorry...I'm not understanding? She's bleeding all over the floor, she's knocked out. I'm so sorry. Yes, the ambulance is on the way. My hyung is on the phone with them now. You're on your way? Thank you!" Minho hung up the phone. "She's not happy. I'm pretty sure she cussed me out."

"Well of course she's not happy, you pabo, you knocked out her worker and she's going to have to come in and assess the situation at...oh 2 am in the morning. I won't be surprised if she decides to sue us for your lack of self-control!" Key said, looking at Minho who was about to jump over the counter and knock Key out himself. 

"Don't you dare put all the blame on me. It was an accident!" Minho stepping out from behind the desk with his hands balled into fists at his sides. He was upset, and this was a clear challenge from Minho not to test him. Jonghyun instinctively got between the two still holding Minho's phone which was still connected to the 911 dispatcher. There was no way Key could win in a fight against Choi. They didn't need two people going to the hospital tonight.

"Back down Minho. Calm down. Starting a fight now won't do any good."

"Why did you wake him up, Jinki? All he does is try to get under my skin. I feel bad enough as it is." Minho said, as he glared at Jinki. Jinki was still cool, calm and collected.

"He knows the most English out of all of us. Perhaps this will teach you and Taemin a lesson." Jinki said, crossing his arms over his chest. 

"Hyung, it was an accident." Taemin retorted, as he readjusted Crystal's head his in lap, his skinny jeans were saturated now with Crystal's blood. Jonghyun swallowed hard, trying not to panic at the amount of blood Crystal seemed to be losing. Jinki backed off, sensing the tension in the air. Everyone was on edge right now. "Guys, she's coming to."

Everyone seemed to drop what they were doing and run around the front desk agent as she her eyes fluttered, not necessarily open, but she was regaining consciousness. Her face twisted in pain. Jonghyun's heart instantly sank. The dispatcher came back on the line.

"Hello, sir? The ambulance is pulling up to the hotel now, I'm going to let you go okay?"

"O-okay, thank you!” Jonghyun said into the microphone of Minho's phone. The line went dead and Jonghyun handed Minho back his cell phone.  
Outside, the sounds of an ambulance neared the entrance to the hotel and soon the lobby was filled with flashing red lights of the emergency vehicle.

"Tell me step by step what happened so I can relay it to the medical staff when they get inside. Don't leave anything out."

Taemin, Minho and Jonghyun both gave their accounts of what happened while Key listened. Moments later the EMS came in, with a box full of medical equipment and a stretcher.

"Did you guys call for the ambulance?"

"Yes! "

"Oh man, how did she get the head injury?" One of the EMT's asked, and Key answered the man's question walking through what happened step by step. The standard medical interview was conducted as the two EMT's grabbed Crystal's limp body, and examined her head before placing her onto the stretcher. Just then a tall red-headed woman walked into the lobby.

"Oh my...were you the ones that called me?"

"Yes, are you Amanda?" Minho asked, as  
"That's me. Is she going to be okay?" Amanda asked, as she addressed the EMTs.

"We're trying to assess that now." One of the EMTs said, as they wrapped a blood pressure cuff on Crystal's upper arm and began to measure her blood pressure. "94/55, it's a little low. Probably because she's lost quite a bit of blood." The EMT then began measuring her pulse. "Heart rate's a bit high, 148. Could be blood loss. Could be trauma."

"She's got a nasty gash for sure. At least a fourth-degree laceration for sure. It's almost to the bone layer, she's most likely have a bad concussion to go with it. Matt, want to grab the smelling salts and see if we can get her to come to." Matt grabbed something out of the medical box. The other EMT grabbed it and broke it open and waved it under Crystal's nose. Crystal flinched, before her eyes opened, and jerking her head away from the potent smelling chemical. 

"W-What happened?" 

"You were knocked down. What's your name?"

"Crystal."

"Last name?"

"I---uh--I don't know." If looks could kill, Minho and Taemin would've been obliterated in a million pieces under Key's death glare. He was pissed as were Jinki and Jonghyun.

"That's okay Crystal, at least we got a first name. How old are you?"

"Um--I... I don't know." Cue the glares again, this time Jonghyun shot a look of contempt at Taemin, knowing he was the one who caused this whole situation.

"That's okay sweetie, I think I remember you from a few weeks ago, you were having heart palpitations." Again, both Minho and Taemin cowered away from Key who was visibly upset and had his fists balled up at his sides. Just then the EMT gave his partner her last name and age from what he remembered. "We're going to bring you in and get you evaluated. I suspect you have a bad concussion. We'll most likely have to admit you for observation." 

"Okay."

"You guys are so fucked. Manager-hyung is going to light the field ablaze with you two." Key muttered. Both Taemin and Minho groaned. 

"Which one of you saw what happened? We'll need someone to ride along to give the doctor a detailed account of what happened."

"Jonghyun, go. You saw everything happen, here, take my phone, I've got a translator on it to help you if you get stuck. " Key said, as he handed Jonghyun his phone. "Give me your phone and pass code, my pass code is my birthday." 

Jonghyun gave Key his pass code and watched the EMTs load Crystal on a stretcher and began wheeling her out of the hotel lobby. Jonghyun nervously followed them, before glancing one last time at his band mates who nodded toward the ambulance. As he left through the automated doors of the hotel, he says Key push Taemin and get confrontational. No doubt, both Taemin and Minho were going to get it from Key. 

Yielding to his fate and letting out heavy breath, Jonghyun watched the EMTs put the stretcher carrying Crystal into the ambulance before both EMTs boarded the vehicle. In the ambulance, the smell of the iodide in the air all rushed him back to his car accident in the spring a few years ago. Jonghyun sat down on the bench next to one of the EMTs who was now getting Crystal set up with an IV. 

The other EMT known as Matt, looked over at Jonghyun and opened his mouth, causing Jonghyun to pay close attention to the man. "So, what's your name?"

"Jonghyun. You're Matt?"

"Yeah, that's my name. You heard Brian here huh? That's okay, it saves me having to introduce myself. Did you see what happened to Crystal here?"

"Yes. My band mates ran out of the elevator as Crystal was bringing honey for my tea. They didn't see her, and she didn't see them until it was too late." Jonghyun could sense that he had a hard time understanding him due to his thick accent. He was really trying to enunciate well though.

"You're not from here are you Jonghyun?"

"No, we are going back home from touring on this side of world. I'm from South Korea."

Matt nodded, as he pressed a button on a blood pressure/heart monitor machine. The numbers this time were a little bit better. Crystal's heart rate had got down into the 120s and her blood pressure had dipped a bit more, it was 89/58 but she was still awake and alert, so Brian and Matt didn't seem worried. 

"Crystal do you know what day it is?" Brian asked, as he injected something into her IV. Crystal could give the correct month and year but didn't know the day. 

"Do you know who our current president is?"

"Um...Bush? I think? No. That can't be it, I... I’m drawing a blank. Wow.” Crystal’s blinking seemed to slow and as Jonghyun watched her, he could sense something was wrong. Crystal seemed to be now fighting to stay conscious and she grasped at her chest and start to take deep breaths like she was suffocating.

"It's okay hun. Do you know your birthday? Crystal? I---" Suddenly her heart rate began to spike. The monitors started sound their alarms.130s....140s....160s...and with the spike in heart rate, came a further drop in blood pressure...she was about to pass out again. 

"May...something. I can't.... I can't..." She then lost consciousness, just as Brian got on the radio and began blurting stuff in a rushed manner that Jonghyun couldn't understand. Meanwhile Matt was digging through the storage cabinets in the back of the ambulance in search of stuff. That caused Jonghyun's own heart to start to race as well as the atmosphere in the ambulance became fraught with panic. Was she really dying? Could they save her? Was she going to make it to the hospital?

"What is going on?” Jonghyun asked. Matt had found what he was looking for and began preparing another syringe with the medication.

Matt's voice was calm, unnaturally calm. It didn’t fit the current situation. "She's in hypovolemic shock. I'm trying to give her some clotting medication to stop any further bleeding. Unfortunately, what she needs right now is a blood transfusion. Brian's calling ahead for some blood to be prepared a-sap." Matt said, as he quickly measured out the appropriate dosage of medication before sticking the syringe into Crystal's IV port. The lights and sirens were turned on in the ambulance as Jonghyun felt the ambulance pick up speed.

Jonghyun watched on in horror as Crystal went into something called V-fib and they had to use the shock paddles on her just as the ambulance made a sharp left hand turn before shortly making a right turn before coming to a complete stop. Once stopped the back-metal doors were ripped opened, just has Brian started CPR.

"Let's get her inside." 

Jonghyun quickly got out of the ambulance to allow the emergency staff to carry Crystal into the ER. He let out a deep breath, he had a hard phone call to make. I quickly called Jinki.

"Hyung, they—they...she's...ugh! They're performing CPR on her now. Something happened, she lost too much blood hyung, everything's a mess!"

"CPR? Is she dead Jonghyun?"

"I don't know. Something about V-fib...they had to use those shock paddles on her. Her blood pressure is super low too."

"FUCK!" Jinki shouted, he was clearly frustrated, and Jonghyun didn't blame him. This girl could die because of Taemin and Minho's clear lack of regard for others. "She's in shock. That's not good. Oh God...I'll ask her boss to contact her next of kin."

"Okay Hyung."

"Keep us updated." 

"I will." Jonghyun said, as hung up the phone and stepped into the ER. He was met with chaos. From the bits and pieces of information he was getting, Crystal still hadn't gotten a normal heart rhythm back yet. Some people where frantically working to get blood into Crystal, while another group was trying to bring her back using paddles and CPR, there was also a person intubating Crystal with a breathing tube as she had stopped breathing sometime in the last minute or so. Jonghyun stayed just outside the curtains, trying to listen to everything going on. He couldn't look at the poor woman, last he checked they were cutting open her clothes so they could start new port lines. 

How did this even happen? Didn't Taemin see how much blood she was losing? Jonghyun thought back and remembered Taemin's shirt and pants just soaked with Crystal's blood. No doubt his dongsaeng was traumatized by that. While Jonghyun was deep in thought, the emergency staff happened to get a good heart rhythm going. 

"Sir!! You can't go in there!"

"Crystal!?! Where is she?” Jonghyun was shoved aside by an incredibly tall bald Caucasian man, with a look of worry and fear plastered all over his face. A nurse met the man at the opening of the curtain just as he caught of glimpse of Crystal's prostrate body. "Crystal!?!?! Crystal!!! What happened to her!?!?"

"Sir you need to step back! Are you her family?"

"I'm her boyfriend! Yes!"

"Please step outside," Just then the nurse looked over at Jonghyun, meeting his eyes in her stern gaze." both of you. We're working on getting her stable right now. Be patient and let us do our job!"

Jonghyun made his way out and he was followed by the taller boyfriend of Crystal's, just then, he felt a hand grab his shoulder harshly and he was spun around before pinned against an adjacent wall with this man in his face snarling. It was now that Jonghyun realized there were children with him. The man curled his fists tightly around the collar of Jonghyun's cotton shirt.

"You! You're with that boy group...SHINee right? What are you doing here?!?! What did you do to her!??!"Jonghyun was shaking in fear, his heart was pounding against the walls of his chest like a caged hummingbird. The oldest, a young girl probably no older than 7 or 8 let out a blood curdling scream at the sudden act of aggression. 

"Daddy no! Don't hurt him!"

"I-I didn't do anything! Please believe me!" Just then people in the nurse's station saw what was going on and quickly came to restrain the man and pulled him off Jonghyun. The man struggled but finally gave up and sat down in heap of tears, the children were frightened. "I'm s-sorry. It was an accident. Taemin and Minho knocked her down while she was getting honey for my tea."

"They knocked her over? How?" The man asked, glaring at Jonghyun.

"They ran from the elevator and didn't see her there. She hit the floor hard. I'm sorry.” Jonghyun said, his anxiety getting the best of him. The man beside him looked broken now, the children, were crying. Clearly this was Crystal's family, he could see Crystal's resemblance in the children. Jonghyun frowned, he was speechless, he didn't really know what to do. "I really am sorry."

"I can't lose my girl. I can't lose her, she's my everything." The man said. Jonghyun was fraught with guilt. He felt horrible, and he couldn't imagine what the man was going through. A doctor, dressed in scrubs walked out of the room that Crystal was still in and took off his surgical mask. 

"Which one of you are her family?"

"I am." The man said, moving to get up out of the chair, but the doctor put a hand up to stop him.

"It's best you're sitting down. Now I need all her information and I'll need you to sign some medical consent paperwork."

"Is she okay?"

Jonghyun opened Key's translator app that took real time speech and translated it into 20 different languages. Luckily English to Korean was already selected.

"She's finally stable. We were able to get three bags of blood in her, and luckily one of the EMTs has worked with her before and we were able to pull up her medical file, but she's not out of the woods yet. I fear she may have some brain damage, possibly a brain bleed as well, I need to get her an MRI and CT Scan of her head a-sap to assess how much damage was done. I'm putting her in the ICU for the time being until we know exactly how bad her situation truly is after I get an MRI and CT Scan. I wish there was more I could tell you, but I won't know more until we can do further testing."

"Is she going to live?"

"It's too soon to say honestly. I'll have you and your family to go to the ICU waiting room, when I know more, I will be sure to tell you."

The man then got up from his seat. "Thank you doctor." The doctor left and as soon as he was out of earshot, the man turned his attention to me.

"What's your name?"

"Daddy, he's Jonghyun. I like him a lot." Somehow Jonghyun still managed to blush at the young girl's comment even though his anxiety was high. 

"Uh, yes. I am." Jonghyun then crouched down to be eyelevel with the little girl. She was extremely pretty, with sparkling blue eyes and dirty blonde hair. "What's your name?"

The girl shied away from Jonghyun and blushed as well. "Jasmine." The girl whimpered drying her tears with the back of her hand. The man sighed.

"Look I'm George, Crystal's boyfriend. I'm heading to the ICU waiting room. You should probably follow us if you don't want to get lost." The man who Jonghyun now knew as George, said as he grabbed the youngest, a boy no older than 18 months and his 3-year-old son's hand. 

"Dad, can I hold Jonghyun's hand?" Jasmine asked in a small voice just as George paused to look at her.

"No honey, just stay close."

Jasmine frowned, but Jonghyun smiled down at the young girl and took her hand in his anyway. "Can you show me to the waiting room?" This got Jasmine to smile and she nodded. Jasmine following George, led Jonghyun downstairs to a large ICU waiting room furnished with several sofas, and recliners. He could tell the waiting room was meant for those who wanted to stay for loved ones in the ICU. On the trek through the ICU waiting room, Jonghyun put the phone on vibrate to avoid waking people up with notifications, from calls and texts. 

To his right was a counter with a complimentary coffee/cappuccino maker as well as a sink and a pot for boiling water. According to the signs there was also a cafeteria nearby definitely not open at nearly 3am, but since Jonghyun would be making friends with the coffee maker, he would probably most likely be up for breakfast. 

George got settled in a quiet corner of the ICU waiting room, as there were other people there sleeping. The youngest, Caden, had already passed out on his father's shoulder while Georgie, his tall three-year-old, walked clumsily next to his father. An attendant watching over the waiting room came by and asked if we needed any blankets and pillows. George commented that he'd need three blankets and three pillows as Jasmine let go of Jonghyun's hand and jumped on the nearby recliner. The attendant left and quickly returned with six pillows and three blankets since the pillows were your standard flat hospital pillows, you would need at least two to prop your head up properly.

"Daddy, is mommy going to be okay?" The little girl asked, as tears appeared in her blue eyes. George frowned. Jonghyun left to make himself a coffee, feeling uncomfortable being around them in such a trying time. 

"I think so baby girl. I have faith the doctors will figure out what's going on with your mom and they'll help her anyway they can." Jonghyun heard George reaffirm Jasmine. Jonghyun continued his way over to the coffee counter where he grabbed a Styrofoam cup and pressed the appropriate button to begin brewing coffee. 

He felt Key's phone vibrate in his pocket and he pulled it out to see a text from Key. 

Any update?

Jonghyun swiped at the keypad. 

They got her stabilized and they are going to do some scans to determine how much damage is done before moving her to the ICU.

Key's reply was quick. 

We are on our way there. Her boss called her family. Are they there too?

Jonghyun let a heavy breath, knowing that's the last thing her family needed right now.

No. Don't come. Her boyfriend and kids are here, yes. He is angry, if you bring Minho and Taemin he's liable to hurt them. I nearly got hurt myself when he showed up and saw her condition. 

Key sent a shocked emoji.

Manager-hyung is angry as well. He's told Jinki that he would call us back when he let Soo Man know what happened. They're wanting us to cancel our upcoming schedules and stay here until this whole situation clears up. Our flights are canceled. 

Jonghyun frowned. Great. He was going to have some difficult phone calls to make and SM was going to have work up an angle as to why the guys weren't back in Korea. Whether they would tell the truth or not, he didn't know. 

Jonghyun grabbed some sugar and powered creamer packets when he heard footsteps coming around the corner. It was George. He looked weary and tired, not that Jonghyun blamed him. 

"Coffee?” Jonghyun asked, grabbing another Styrofoam cup to make a coffee for the much taller man, but George shook his head. 

"No. Coffee puts me to sleep. I'm going to go grab a soda."

"Oh okay, you want me to come?"

"No. You can stay, I'll be right back." George said, as he left the ICU waiting area, leaving Jonghyun to himself. Jonghyun sat in a nearby chair, heart and head heavy with worry and anxiety. His thoughts weren't even on himself, he was so worried about Crystal. He knew if she happened to pull through, she would be in a coma. He just hoped there wasn't too much damage done and that she would be able to resume her normal activities in no time. 

George came back quickly, and he asked Jonghyun if they had seen a doctor or a nurse yet. Jonghyun could only shake his head. George seemed frustrated at everything. Again, Jonghyun was trying to be understanding and put himself in George's shoes. 

"So, who called 911?"

"It was Minho."

"He's the tall lanky one right?" George asked, and Jonghyun let out a breath of annoyance as he nodded.

"Yeah, he is." Jonghyun said trying to take a cautious sip of his coffee. "I saw everything. I was chosen to ride along. I'm sorry about everything."

"No. You're okay, I'm sorry about how I came off earlier. I didn't hurt you, did I?" George asked, his eyes meeting Jonghyun's. Jonghyun shook his head. 

"No, I'm okay. You scared me though." Jonghyun said speaking with honesty. George frowned and nodded in acknowledgement.

"I'm sorry about that. I see you're a good guy. I'm sorry I reacted like that. I thought I had lost Crystal, and I saw you there...why are you guys here anyway?"

"Our flight got diverted."

"Oh cause of the storm. It is pretty bad out there. I was plowing through 3-foot drifts trying to get here. There's no way you guys would've been able to get out of here tomorrow. How long are you guys going to be here for?"

"Well I don't know. I... how do I say..."Jonghyun said, stumped on how to carry on the conversation. He took out Key's cell phone and opened the translator again before speaking Korean into it, the English translation was spoken out.

"Our manager is keeping us here, until things are okay with Crystal." The computerized voice said through Key's phone.

George's eyes widened before he shook his head fervently. "No, you guys don't have to do that. Crystal wouldn't want you guys to do that for her. She'd want you to continue doing what you're doing." 

"No, I insist" Jonghyun managed to say. “We caused this. We want to fix it."

The small talk continued. Jonghyun found out that George was exactly 7 years older than Crystal since they had the same birthday, but Crystal was still older than all of them. The two men got to know each other better and better as the early morning hours grew closer. It seemed a few hours had passed before someone came in bearing any sorts of news. George had managed to let the conversation fizzle out in favor of a light nap, and Jonghyun thought it would be best to let the man get some rest. Meanwhile, he played on Key's phone but when he got bored of that he decided to take a walk around the floor of the facility. 

He walked by the door to the ICU, curious, he walked up to the steel double doors and tried to open them and found they were locked. Next to the doors there appeared to be a scanner of some kind. He had never seen an ICU locked down so tightly before. Shrugging, he decided to venture further on down the hallway on his exploratory walk. 

He found the cafeteria about three meters further down the hall and saw staff inside setting up breakfast. He could smell the aroma of breakfast food being prepared and it made his stomach rumble at him but chose to ignore it. He found a room next to the cafeteria full of soda and snack machines. Upon looking over the selection provided, he saw some instant Ramen, and opened his wallet only to frown. He gave the last of his American money for a tip, but then he remembered there was an ATM which was next to the entrance to the cafeteria, so he walked out and procured $60 from the nearby ATM. He walked back feeling optimistic about getting some food, only to denied when the machine wouldn't take his twenty. He then read that the machines only took $1 and $5 bills. 

"Aish. What to do..." Jonghyun muttered as he glanced at Key's phone as he walked out of the snack room and glanced at the hours of the cafeteria. He still had fifteen minutes before the cafeteria would be open. He would have to be patient and wait. As he walked by the ICU, there was a couple of members of staff that stepped out. One of which followed Jonghyun all the way the waiting room. Jonghyun took his seat next to George only to see one of the nurses from the ER earlier standing before them. 

"Excuse me. Are you family of Mrs. Holden? I recognize you from the ER."

"No. Sorry." Jonghyun said as he shook his head. He looked over at George who was dozing lightly. "George?" He then reached over and gave him a light shake causing George to wake up.

"H-huh? Oh! Oh! What's going on? Is Crystal going to be okay? Sorry, I fell asleep." George muttered, walking up suddenly. Meanwhile Jonghyun opened Key's translation app and set it on to listen.

The nurse gave a small smile as she made eye contact with the man. "That's all right, you guys have had a rollercoaster of a night. We have her stabilized. We're reviewing her MRI and CT scan results right now, and she's in a chemically induced coma now. Would you like to come see her?" The nurse asked as looked at George and Jonghyun. 

"Yes! Yes." George said, as he got up and began to follow the nurse who led him back to the ICU. Jonghyun thought it was best not to follow, but George had stopped and glanced back, noticing Jonghyun not following him.

"Hey, you coming dude?"

"Oh, aniyo, you go see her. I'm going to update my members if that is okay?" Jonghyun said, waving for him to go on without him. George shrugged. 

"All right man, thank you." George said, thanking Jonghyun for his thoughtfulness as he followed the nurse to the ICU to see his girlfriend. Meanwhile, Jonghyun began to text Key.

Crystal is stabilized. She's in a chemically induced coma right now. The doctors are going over the results from the MRI and CT scans. Her boyfriend asked me if I wanted to see her.

Key's response was swift.

Oh my God! I hope she pulls through, I really do. Why didn't you go see her?

Jonghyun thought upon it for a moment.  
It's not my place Key. I mean, I don't share any type of relationship with her, I just met her tonight.

The phone chimed about a minute or so later.

Aish, okay, I see, I see. I'm going to pass this on the rest of the group, we'll swing by with some Starbucks for you. Manager-hyung extended our rooms through the week. He's also faxing over some medical release forms, you'll need to have her boyfriend fill them out.

Jonghyun's eyes widened. What? Why?

Why? 

The phone began buzzing as Jonghyun saw that Key was calling. It was strange seeing his own number pop up on the screen. Jonghyun answered the call.

”Hello?"

"Jonghyun, we're covering all of Crystal's medical expenses. American laws are strict and weird though. We can't just give the hospital money, they must by law give us an itemized list of everything they've given her. She must have her boyfriend or next of kin listed as an emergency contact. He needs to fill out all the information for us. Since he'll be the only one to have access to her medical information at this point...at least, that's what I'm reading."  
Jonghyun ran a hand through his hair. "How much do you think all this will cost? Not that I care, I'm willing chip in whatever is needed...why not just give her boyfriend a huge amount of money and continue our schedules."

"I've seen figures as high as a hundred and fifty thousand US dollars. I know Crystal works, but I'm sure she doesn't make that kind of money. American health care is really expensive." 

"Oh wow. How long are you guys going to be?"

"We'll be down there shortly, Amanda is letting us use the shuttle to go down there. The weather here sucks though. I hope the shuttle can get us there."  
"Okay then. I'll look forward to seeing you guys." Jonghyun spoke into the receiver. 

"Oh, before I let you go. SM hired a PI and an attorney to gather any information about Crystal. They want all their facts straight before they go to the press about this. "

"Wait, press? Why? Why does SM need to release this to the press? That's the last thing this family needs Key."

"Aish, I don't know Jonghyun. I don't want to pry into this woman's personal life any more than you do, SM is a huge record label, they have to cover their end too." 

"At the cost of this woman and her family's privacy? This is just insane. These children don't need this kind of stress." 

"I know. I know. Look, we can talk about all this when we get there okay? I'll see you in a little bit." 

"Okay. See you when you get here." Jonghyun spoke into the receiver before hearing Key end the phone call. Jonghyun plopped back into the sofa feeling a whole lot worse than he did before Key's phone call. He checked the time and the cafeteria had opened nearly ten minutes ago. He was hungry, so he got up from the couch only to have the oldest boy, Georgie, wake up crying. Jonghyun froze in place, and waited, hoping the boy would fall back asleep, but it was a domino effect. The boy's crying woke up his older sister and younger brother.

"Good morning! Do you want breakfast?" Jonghyun asked, as he glanced around at the children who were now awake and staring at their brother. The eldest let out a huge yawn and rubbed her eyes.

"Where is daddy?"

"Your dad went to see your mom." Jonghyun said, as he got up from his seat and grabbed the youngest boy in the group, scooping him up in his arms before carrying him on his hip. He reached forward to the second youngest looking down at the boy. Georgie looked up at him before pulling his eyebrows together and letting out a boisterous cry. Jonghyun flinched at the high-pitched cry attacking his eardrum. "Sh... Georgie...sh... it’s okay." He said, trying to console the boy in English, but the three-year-old wasn't having it. 

"Here let me...Georgie, want to go eat? Do you want some food? Come on Georgie, let's go get some food." Jasmine said, as she holds out her hand towards her brother.

"E-eh Eat? Okay." Georgie said through his tears as he grasped his older sister's hand and was led off the couch. Jonghyun turned around and led the way to the cafeteria. 

Grabbing a tray off a rack he followed Jasmine around to the food area where Jasmine loaded the tray with some apple and orange juice and two white milk and a chocolate milk for herself, while Jonghyun grabbed some much-needed coffee. Jonghyun grabbed some fruit and a breakfast sandwich before grabbing some oatmeal for the youngest, some scrambled eggs and bacon for Georgie while Jasmine was content on cereal. Jonghyun wanted her to eat more than that so he grabbed some more fruit, scrambled eggs and bacon. All while Caden, was balanced on his hip. 

The food in total came up to just shy of twenty dollars. He told the cashier to keep the change before taking the tray loaded full of food to a quiet corner of the cafeteria. As he set the tray down on the table his pocket began buzzing. He was about to ask Jasmine to grab a baby seat for Caden, but she had already found one and was wheeling it over to Jonghyun. 

"I can set Caden in the seat if you want me to Jonghyun." He smiled down at the girl but insisted on putting Caden in the seat. 

"I got him, you can feed him though if you want." Jonghyun said, the words leaving his mouth felt so unnatural to him. Jasmine, however, nodded as Jonghyun set the youngster in the seat before grabbing the phone out of his pocket.

"Hello?"

"Jonghyun! Where are you? We're in the ICU waiting room and we don't see you here..." It was Key. 

"I'm down the hall in the cafeteria."

"Say no more. We'll meet you there!" The call was disconnected as Jonghyun finally paid attention to the children before him. Georgie had forsaken the utensils in favor of using his hands to eat his eggs. Jonghyun saw Jasmine struggling to feed Caden so he took over feeding him allowing Jasmine to focus on feeding herself. 

Key made his appearance, holding a couple of drink carriers filled with Starbucks drinks followed by Minho, Jinki, and Taemin. Jasmine's eyes widened as she recognized Jonghyun's bandmates. 

"SHINEE!!!" Jasmine screamed, and Minho broke out in the widest grin imaginable. Jonghyun knew that grin anywhere. He recognized her. How though? Jonghyun wanted to know. 

"Hello! How are you?" Key asked, and Jonghyun could tell the man faked his enthusiasm. Especially since every one of them had dark circles under their eyes from lack of sleep. 

"I'm tired. How are you?" Jasmine responded back. 

Key frowned. "I’m tired too, but I think I have something that may help you..." Key said, pulling out a small paper cup with the Starbucks logo on it and setting it down in front of the 8-year-old. "Be careful sipping on this, it's really hot, okay."

"That's not coffee is it?"

"Aish, no, it's not. I know better than to give an eight-year-old coffee!" Key snapped in their mother language, causing Georgie to jump at Key's sharp change of demeanor and start to cry. 

"Key! I had just calmed him down..." Jonghyun said, getting up to go comfort the three-year-old, but Minho beat him to it., scooping the abnormally large three-year-old up from his chair and cradling him in his arms.

"Oh...you're a big boy! Jonghyun, how old is he?" Minho asked, his eyes meeting Jonghyun's as he held up three fingers. "That all?!? Wow! I thought he was five or six!" Just then Georgie whipped back in Minho's arms, causing the man to nearly drop the boy. Both Minho and Georgie were freaking out. Georgie's tantrum was because he didn't really know Minho, while Minho freaked out at the fact that he nearly dropped the boy. Just then, George walked through the door way of the cafeteria looking frantic. 

"Hey George! We're here, I took them for breakfast." Jonghyun said, catching the older man's attention. George spotted them before pulling his eyebrows together in frustration as he saw the rest of SHINee. If looks could kill Minho would've been vaporized where he stood.

"Oh, there you are. I was so worried. I got out and saw you guys were gone, I panicked!" George said, as he walked over to the other guys quickly, just then his eyes narrow at Taemin and Minho. "What are they doing here? Haven't you guys caused enough hell for one night? Can you give me my son, before you decide to put him the hospital too?" George said, glaring at Minho. Key opened his mouth clearly understanding what George said, but Jonghyun put a hand on his chest and shook his head. Sharp tongues, and angers flaring wasn't going to solve anything, and Jonghyun feared George. The man was well over six feet tall. He didn't want any of them to go toe to toe with the man. Jinki stepped between Jonghyun and Key, sensing the tension about to erupt.

"Key don't. Minho give him his son." Jinki said in Korean. Minho nodded as Georgie reached for his father and entered his father's open embrace as George stepped forward closing the distance between him and Minho. 

"I'm very sorry for what happened tonight. It was an accident." Minho said and as soon as Georgie was in his father's secure hold, he bowed before the man, humbling himself in a perfect 90-degree bow. Taemin followed Minho's lead and bowed before George as well in a 90-degree bow.

"Me too. I'm very sorry. I will do anything to make things right." Jonghyun, Key and Jinki were awestruck at their two dongsaengs. George cocked his head to the side curiously.

"Um. Okay. You can stop." George said, as he put his son back in his chair having calmed him down from his crying fit and pulling his plate of food in front of him. "Here little dude, eat your food, okay buddy?" George then turned on his heel to Taemin and Minho who were still bowed. "Guys, seriously, you can stop. I get it was an accident, okay? I'm trying my best not to be mad. Crystal wouldn't want me to be angry with you guys anyway. She loves you guys and your music. I'm trying be understanding for her sake." 

Both Minho and Taemin nodded before straightening up. Minho opened his mouth to speak. "Again, I'm sorry. I should've been more careful..." George raised his hand to stop Minho. 

"Minho. I know. It's done. I just want Crystal to get better...her condition is pretty bad right now..."

Key spoke up. "Do they know what's wrong?"

"The doctor said it looks like a severe brain contusion. There was bleeding on brain for sure, but they won't know the extent of the damage until the swelling goes down. The prognosis isn't good. The best they hope for is that she'll have some difficulty with speech, and motor skills that will require intense therapy, the worst case, she'll be a vegetable."

"A vegetable?" Key asked for clarification. 

"Brain dead Key. Basically, she'll be on life support and in a coma for the rest of her life." Jinki commented, filling in the blanks for his dongsaeng. Just then his phone rang. Jinki looked down at it and saw it was their manager. "I have to take this phone call. Here George. Please, have my coffee."

"No thanks, coffee makes me sleepy. I still have an energy drink in the lounge to drink up." Jinki nodded, before grabbing the coffee he was about to give to George seconds before and exiting the cafeteria.

"Oh my God! You don't think Crystal is going to end up brain dead, do you?" Key asked in a low whisper to Jonghyun. Jonghyun stabbed into his eggs and put a forkful into his mouth, instantly regretting it. The eggs were cold now, and texture was not to Jonghyun's liking. He forced himself to swallow it anyway.

"I hope not. For Minho and Taemin's sake, I hope and pray that she doesn't." Jonghyun said, as he glanced over at Minho and Taemin as the realization both hit them to the dire situation they found themselves in. Taemin stared blankly at the floor, while Minho had a fresh sheen of tears in his eyes as clutched his coffee cup that Key handed to him. Key handed Jonghyun his cup of Starbucks coffee before going up and getting everyone food, he even got Jonghyun a fresh bowl of scrambled eggs knowing he couldn't stand cold eggs. He was even nice enough to get up and get George some food. George thanked Key, before digging straight into the food.

Breakfast was quiet for the most part, until Minho decided to break the ice.

"Jasmine, I have a question. Did you go to one of our fan meets? I think I saw you before..." The eight-year-old couldn't contain her excitement. She eagerly nodded.

"Yes! We saw you guys in Chicago!"  
"Who do you like more?" Key asked, taking over the conversation and Jasmine paused a moment.

"I really like Jonghyun. I love his songs. My mommy really likes them too. She says she can't choose a favorite and likes everyone equally." Just then, tears developed in her blue eyes. "She's going to be okay right dad? Will she wake up?"

"I don't know Jasmine. Let's give your mom time to heal, okay? I'm sure she'll pull through, she's strong."

"Did they say how long she'd be out for?" Key asked, his eyes meeting George's. 

"They said, if all goes well, she'll be awake in a few days,"

"Why wouldn't things go well? They have her stable right?"

"Yeah, but the whole back of her brain was full of blood. They don't know whether she'll be able to see, walk, or function normally again. " George said glumly. There was a heavy aura that filled the air now. They were playing the waiting game now.


	2. Judgment

Jonghyun was tired by the time they were all finished with breakfast. George allowed the guys to go back to the hotel while he took his kids inside the ICU to see their mother and upon doping up on some sleeping meds, the other guys allowed Jonghyun to sleep. When he did rouse, Jonghyun felt like he was in a different decade all together as the sun went down. 

As if on cue, Jinki entered the room with a bag of fast food from McDonalds as Taemin ate the food Jonghyun purchased from the hotel store the night before.

"Hey, I picked you up some food while we were out, did you sleep well?"

"Yeah, I have a headache, what time is it?"

"A little after 7..."

"In the evening?"

"Yep, you slept for about ten hours." 

"Oh, that would explain my headache." Jonghyun said, as he blinked hard a few times, but his headache only grew worse. "Do we have any pain medication?" 

"Yeah, I have some Tylenol in my bag," There was some ruffling behind him before a small bottle of Tylenol was made available to Jonghyun. "here."   
"Ah, thank you!" Jonghyun said, thanking Jinki before opening the bottle and taking a couple of pills out and washing them down with the drink Jinki brought in with the bag of McDonalds. He started to dig into the food Jinki had gotten for him. It was still a little warm, not that Jonghyun minded as he was famished. 

After Jonghyun had finished eating, he took a shower and got a fresh change of clothes on. He felt much better after that, now that his tummy was full he could take on the rest of the day. When he exited the bathroom, Jinki was sitting at the desk, a glum expression masking his face.

"Hey, George wants us at the hospital, he wants us to see Crystal. Are you ready to go soon?" Jinki asked, finally meeting Jonghyun's gaze. Jonghyun tore his eyes away from the elder as he noticed phone was plugged into the outlet built into the desk lamp before glancing at Jinki again and nodding.

"Yeah, am I staying there again?"

Jinki saw what Jonghyun was eyeing and swiftly unplugged the phone. "You'll have to." Jinki replied, handing Jonghyun back his phone. "Here, it's charged and ready to go, I had Key download that translator app onto your phone. Take your charger with you too, I gave Key his phone back..."

"That's fine, I'm glad he let me use it, I would've been lost without it." Jonghyun said, as he tucked his phone into his back-pocket opposite of the pocket he usually kept his wallet. Grabbing the charger from the elder, he got his jacket, gloves and hat on, as Jinki got up from the chair, the chair squeaking noisily. It was the only noise as there was silence as Jonghyun followed Jinki out of the hotel room, down the hall to the elevator. 

After a short elevator ride to the lobby Jonghyun and Jinki met with the other guys.

"Ready to go?" Key was heard asking, but with a silent nod of acknowledgement from both Jonghyun and Jinki the five men went out to the awaiting shuttle.

 

Twenty minutes later, all five of the men were huddled in a circle around Crystal's hospital bed. A somber mood descended upon the five as each of them surveyed the state of Crystal's body at that point and time.

Crystal's head looked like it was shaved bald at least that's what it looked like as her entire head was wrapped with bloodied gauze. She had a breathing tube in her mouth, and her face was completely bruised and swollen horribly from her surgery the day before. Her head was by far the hardest to look at. There were various IV ports, going into her body as well as a feeding tube inserted through her nose, and a catheter coming out of her body as she was put into a chemically induced comatose and would need to the liquids to come out of her body somehow. On the small patch of her chest Jonghyun could see he saw the telltale purple of bruises, most likely due to the CPR that was administered when her heart stopped functioning normally.

It was hard on all of them to see her in that state. Yes, they had only just met her, but it was their own fault why she was like this. Upon leaving the ICU area, Minho and Taemin were in shambles as the realization hit them of what they had done. 

"Why did you convinced me to race you out of the elevator? Crystal would still be okay, and we would be back in Korea preparing for our comeback..."

"I convinced you? You're the one who did it anyway! You're older than me, you idiot! You didn't try to stop me or tell it me it was a bad idea, you went along anyway you idiot!"

"I'm an idiot? Are you sure you want to be speaking that way to me you little shit, this whole thing is your fault..."

"Oh sure, go ahead blame me Minho. That's all you do anyway is blame others for your fuck-ups..."

Minho lost it, as lunged at Taemin, sending the younger crashing onto the floor of the large lobby of the ICU section of the hospital. The other three just froze in shock of what was occurring in front of them, paralyzed by their own shock. "Get the fuck off of me, you asshole!" Taemin screamed, as he tried struggled against the older man, but it was futile. Minho landed a good solid punch on Taemin's face, then another. Taemin let out a shout and tried to fight back, and landed a couple of punches of his own, but it was clear the older had the upper hand.

Just then George appeared out of nowhere, wrapping his arms around Minho's midsection and pulling him off the maknae like a rag doll, whipping him into an adjacent wall before pinning him against it.

"HEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?!? KNOCK IT OFF!" Jonghyun watched helplessly as George was shouting at Minho and something snapped Jinki out of his bystander role and grabbed Taemin just as the younger was about to grab a chair to whip at both George and Minho. 

"Taemin! No stop! No more! It's done..." Taemin pushed the chair away from himself causing the chair to tip over on itself. Taemin collapsed back on the floor in a flood of tears, his face red and beginning to bruise from Minho's punches moments before.

George managed to calm down a bit and lowered his voice. Minho was struggling against George's iron man like grip. “Minho, calm down! I don't want you guys to fight over this...it's not worth it. It won't help Crystal heal any faster. It's dumb and you know it." 

Minho managed to violently tear himself away from George. It proved to be a struggle for Minho, but George let Minho go, knowing the man was acting out after seeing the state of his girlfriend. Minho knew George was trying to calm him down, but the language barrier was in the way.

"Dude, hold it together. You understand? Fighting isn't going to help!" Minho glared at George for a moment, tears in his own eyes, but he was angry. More angry than sad at the moment. He needed to get out of there. Everyone could sense it in their states of shock.

"I-I need to go.” Minho said, as he ran up the flight of stairs leading up to the second floor of the ICU lobby before taking off out the doors leading outside. 

"Minho!" Key called out and stepped forward to take off after the younger man, but Jonghyun put a reassuring hand on Key's chest to stop him.

"Let him go. He probably needs the alone time. This is hard to process. Let him go for a while." With a nod, Key acknowledged him, tears fresh in his own eyes which caused Jonghyun to start to tear up.  
Tensions were running high in the group. This was going to really test them and the unity in the group. They all knew it.

In the midst of the chaos, Jinki had gotten a text from their manager stating that at ten in the evening Central time, one in the afternoon Korean standard time, SM would be releasing a statement regarding the situation with Crystal. Both Jinki and Jonghyun looked at each other with uncertainty. Four of the five of them sat around the back of the ICU waiting room now. Minho was still gone from his heated exchange with Taemin that happened over a half an hour ago.

Jinki turned to George, who was clearly tired and Caden had fallen asleep on his chest. "George, why don't you head home, you guys should sleep in your own beds. I'm sure Crystal would want you guys to do that. She's in a coma, she's not going anywhere I'm sure. Can I get your phone number though? Just in case something does happen to Crystal."

George nodded. "Yeah, these kids are tired. You promise you'll call me if something happens right?" He asked, as he blinked, his eyes were blood shot, he was exhausted. The other men had sympathy on him, spotting him a good night's rest was the least they could do for all the trouble they caused. George gave Jinki his phone number and Jinki stored it in his phone before group texting the number to the other members.

Key was the next to say anything. "Of course. You'll be the first one we'll call. We'll stay back and make sure everything is okay."  
Jonghyun nodded in agreement. There wasn't much they could do for Crystal, she was in a coma. They must trust the staff and Crystal's body to do the healing now. George nodded in agreement as he glanced at his other children. Jasmine had passed out in the recliner, and Georgie was curled up on the couch next to George. "Ya'll are right." He then looked at Jonghyun and Key. "Would you guys mind helping me carrying the kids out to my car?"

Jonghyun then nodded, before tucking an arm under Jasmine's neck and his other arm under the child's knees. Key went to pick up Georgie, but Jinki waved his hand to stop Key as he picked up the child up gently, cradling the large three-year-old against his chest. Both Jonghyun and Jinki followed George out to his car. Luckily everyone was dressed warmly, having not had a chance to take their coats off to get comfortable. As they made their way upstairs and toward the main doors, the cool the air got until Jonghyun was hit with a face full of subzero cold air that stole the air right out of his lungs. He glanced down at Jasmine and frowned. He changed her position, so her head rested on his shoulder and had a hand on her bottom, so her legs straddled his hip. He pulled her hood over her head, but the girl stirred in his grasp and opened her eyes.

"Jonghyun, I love you." Jasmine sighed sleepily, as the little girl curled her arms around Jonghyun's neck. Jinki heard the girl and glanced back at Jonghyun with a cheesy smirk on his face causing Jonghyun's face to heat up in embarrassment. Jonghyun didn't seem to know how to answer the little girl's proclamation of love. It was really cute though and melted Jonghyun's heart a little. George was preoccupied with unlocking his car doors.

"Aigoo you're so cute. Are you awake?"

"Mmhm..."

"I'm helping your daddy out. I got to let you down now."

"Okay." Jasmine murmured as she still clung to the man as he let her down to open the car door that was now unlocked and open with Jinki getting Georgie in his seat and buckled in. Jonghyun helped the girl get into the car after Jinki had gotten Georgie buckled in. Jasmine gotten in the middle seat and got settled while George was getting Caden in his car seat. 

Both Jonghyun and Jinki bid George and the kids a good night before heading back into the hospital. As soon as they got inside, they watched until George left before heading back to the ICU waiting area downstairs. 

When they had gotten settled in, Jinki texted their manager back and asked if SM really had to put out an official statement so soon. Their manager said it was necessary, as it would give everyone a reason why they were postponing their activities indefinitely. Jinki asked about possible backlash and scandal erupting due to Minho and Taemin's actions. Their manager wasn't sure about any of that but hoped it would be a good outcome for everyone.

Patiently awaiting word from their manager, they got more than what they were expecting. Jinki's video messaging app began going off with a video call from their manager. It was the only warning they received of what was to come. Just then Minho had come back carrying a peace offering of McDonalds for everyone.

"Hello my dongsaengs, I wish I had good news for you all, but I was told to tell you all to lock down your social media accounts, and no matter what, don't engage with anyone."

"What? Why?" Key asked, crossing his arms over his chest. He was clearly annoyed. 

"The press here didn't take well to the news. A scandal has broken out and people are angry about what has happened. I understand very well that it was an accident, but people here are not happy. You will probably start getting personal attacks...please don't engage. We will work on damage control here."

"What about Crystal though, her information is locked down right? She has children hyung, they're going to be safe right?" 

"I don't know specifics. We will ensure Crystal's privacy remains that, private." 

Just then Key's phone began going off. He looked down at his phone and rolled his eyes. It had already started. Jonghyun's phone too, started beeping with notifications. Jonghyun's curiosity got the best of him and he opened his twitter and was shocked. Netizens were sent into a frenzy attacking their social media accounts, and some even blamed Crystal saying she deserved it.

_Jonghyun, please come back, let that bitch die. You can't change anything that's happened..._

_Please tell me it's not so Jonghyun-ah...I miss you, please come back to us._

_The girl probably is to blame, she was a careless fan, she got what she deserved for trying to get your attention._

Jonghyun could feel his mouth hang open in shock. Key too, opened his phone and began scrolling through the comments on his Instagram. Just then Jinki's phone started to blow up with notifications as well.

"What the fuck? Are you serious? Are you reading these too? This is making me so angry. These stupid people." Key said, as he continued scrolling through the comments, wanting to put his phone back in his own pocket but it was like watching a train wreck. You couldn't peel your eyes away.

"Guys, this is what our manager was talking about..." Jinki said as he got out his phone and began doing the same as the other two. "...I know these comments are harsh, and cruel, we need to ignore them." 

"They don't even know her and they're dragging her name through the mud..." Jonghyun said, as he was visibly disturbed by all the harsh comments. 

"Well, to be fair, we don't really know her either Jonghyun. Let's just agree to stay off social media like manager-hyung asked us to. These horrible people don't deserve a response." Jinki said, in a disgusted tone as he read some of the newer comments on his last picture.

The notifications kept coming and the comments were only getting crueler. So, Key, Jinki and Jonghyun silenced their notifications being flabbergasted at how cold hearted the netizens were while they ate McDonald's take away. They all stayed off Instagram and Twitter. It was for the best. Although there was a lot of support, the hateful people wouldn't stop and tried their best to silence those in support of the guys. Jonghyun stuck around the hospital overnight while the rest of the guys went back to the hotel to get some much-needed rest.   
The same nurse that worked in the ER came into the ICU waiting room. Her eyes locked with Jonghyun's as she approached him.

"Is Crystal's boyfriend here? I have her cellphone...I figured he would like it since it's been blowing up with messages at my desk."

"Oh no, sorry. He's at home. I can take it if you like."

"Okay, I'll trust you with it. I think it might go dead soon so you may want to charge it. If you need a charger the nurses' station in the ICU might have one."

Jonghyun really couldn't understand what the nurse was saying. Something about the ICU. "Ah. Thank you." Jonghyun said, as he bowed his head respectfully to the nurse as she handed the phone to him and he took it from her possession.   
"Have a good night." The nurse said, as she walked away. Jonghyun watched her for a moment.

"You too." Jonghyun said, as his attention turned from the nurse to the phone in his hand. Curiosity ran through him as he examined the phone. It was brand he hadn't heard before. BLü the logo said at the bottom. He found the power button on the side and pressed it. He came face to face with an ad with a lock symbol at the bottom with the battery percentage displayed on the front above the ad.

_Battery is low. 15% remaining. Battery saver is on._

Jonghyun knew he had some time to check out the phone. He knew he probably shouldn't be going through the woman's phone, but he was curious. So, he swiped the screen right at the lock symbol upward and a screen with a number pad was displayed. Upon stewing over all the possible numbers...he pressed in her birth year after remembering it from his conversation with George.

Success! He was in. He perused the contents of the woman's phone. He found out a little bit too much however. His grasp on English was limited but he knew his name, and the other members names were thrown in with words of a sexual manner causing Jonghyun's face to warm with embarrassment. Clearly the woman was into fan fiction, something he was aware existed, but had never gone out of his way to look up or read. He closed out of that before opening an app called Facebook. He tried to make out some of her most recent statuses being somewhat familiar with the app. 

Turns out this woman wasn't that much different from him. She wrote her own music, when he heard her voice he was pleasantly surprised. She had a beautiful, unique tone that was husky, full bodied in her lower range and she could go low. It reminded him of Toni Braxton's low register. She could belt out in her middle register, and could adapt her higher register from light and airy, to a clear bell like tone. It astonished Jonghyun that she could sing so well.

She loved her family and she struggled with depression heavily, all of it came out into her music. Her ability to pick out melodies, and build the instrumentation was also astonishing, she clearly was a novice, but he found himself oddly comforted by the woman's music and voice. It wasn't until her phone beeped a 5% warning did he set out to find a charger. He entered the ICU and asked one of the nurses if there was charger. They were happy to provide him an android charger from the lost and found. Jonghyun had an Apple, Crystal's phone was an Android.

With the charger in hand, Jonghyun checked up on Crystal who was still stable and in a chemically induced coma. He frowned seeing her like that. He went back out to the waiting area and set out to plug Crystal's phone in when her phone chimed with a text message. Jonghyun plugged the woman's phone in and opened her text messages. It was in Hangul and Jonghyun's blood began to boil.

_Die you stupid bitch. You don't deserve the fucking air you're stealing you dumb ass fat bitch!_

_I hope you die. I hope a nurse accidentally turns off your life support because you don't deserve to live you ugly slut._  
Die!

_You're ugly. You stupid saesang. I hope you're happy. You get SHINee all to yourself you selfish pig. Choke and die!_

_Fucking stupid ass American slut. I hope you die. I hope you don't ever wake up out of your coma. I feel sorry for your kids. They deserve so much better than you, you fucking bitch. If you die, they'll be better off!_

"What the--fuck!" Jonghyun said, as he grabbed his phone and called Jinki. 

"Hello?"

"Hyung, the saesangs...they have Crystal's phone number..."

"I just got notified before you called me...all of Crystal's personal information has been put up on Naver. They have her personal cell phone number, her address, her boyfriend's name, her social media handles have all been leaked somehow. George let me know of the situation when he was rudely awakened by his phone blowing up with hateful messages wishing Crystal to die, I've let manager-hyung know of the situation...I've asked George not to respond to the texts. Key and Minho are combing through the usernames and gathering information to find out who is posting the information."

"Hyung. Please tell me we're not going to let them get away with this! Please! They're talking about her children now."

"Jonghyun we figured something like this would happen, how did you get a hold of Crystal's cell phone?" Jinki asked. 

"One of the ER nurses gave it to me. I guessed the pass code and got into it that way. This is some fucked up shit hyung. I'm so angry."

"We can't let this get to us Jonghyun. Crystal isn't in any physical danger. Let's let this blow over okay? They'll find something else to talk out by the end of the week and they'll leave us alone."

"Hyung, I can't sit here and let them trash her name like this. She's done nothing wrong. She's innocent in all this."

"I know Jonghyun. I know, I'll talk to manager-hyung okay. Give me some time. In the meantime, try to play damage control and delete as many messages as you can okay?"

"Fine, I'll do this your way. This hurts hyung. It really does."

"I know. Let's endure all this okay? We'll make it."

"Keep me updated hyung."

I will. Try to have a good rest of your night." 

"Yeah, you too. Bye." Jonghyun said, as he ended the call as he glanced at the woman's phone buzzing constantly with the bombardment of anonymous text messages. He swiped it up off the table and finished plugging it in before setting out to delete the numerous text messages. It became apparent however that Jonghyun wouldn't be able to keep up with the deletion of the barrage of text messages, so he shut off the phone and tossed it haphazardly back on the side table next to him.

Jonghyun was absolutely frustrated. Crystal didn't deserve any of this. He got up and went to get himself an energy drink from the concession area next to the cafeteria. His mind kept going over all the horrible things the saesangs wrote as he put a couple of crisp dollar bills into the vending machine and chose his selection. He could never understand why people had to be so cruel. 

The vending machine retrieved Jonghyun's selection, which was a Red bull, snapping Jonghyun out of his train of thought. He leaned over and grabbed his drink out of the bin before tapping to top of the can. Pull back the metal tab, he opened the energy drink and took a hasty drink of the medicine flavored beverage until the can was empty. He crushed the can with his bare hands, taking out some of his frustration on the aluminum before dumping it into the trashcan nearby. He decided right then that a walk was what he needed. It had been a few days since he last got some exercise.

He made his way back to the ICU waiting room and grabbed his phone, jacket, gloves and hat before heading out and up the stairs. Turning out the main floors of the south entrance the frigid cold air hit him, sucking the breath from his very lungs. He just took off in the direction of least resistance since the hospital was perched in the middle of a large hill, ahead of his and to his left was large uphill incline, while to the right of him was a downhill slope. He slowly made his way around the hospital and looked to his right, he saw a convenience store some ways down just beyond a taller building. It was easily 20 stories up, impressive for a tiny town such as Minot.

Jonghyun glanced at the temperature on his way to the gas station it was minus five degrees Fahrenheit, not as bone chilling cold as it was the night before, but cold none the less. Jonghyun muttered a curse to himself in his mother tongue and licked his lips, wetting them against the moisture sucking cold dry again.

It took about ten minutes of walking, but Jonghyun arrived at the M & H gas station. He entered and took notice of the lonely gas attendant. "Good Morning." Jonghyun greeted, bowing a bit with his head, and the attendant, a female, raised her eyebrow at the man.

"Good Morning." The woman said, giving Jonghyun a strange look. Just then Jonghyun noticed another employee, a tall man this time, he was burly. Jonghyun greeted him the same, and this time noticed a lip ring, tattoos on the man's neck, and an eyebrow piercing. 

"Morning." Came the response from the man as he continued back to stocking the chips. Jonghyun then turned his attention to what the gas station had for offer regarding food. He perused the aisles and got a few things, a few cans of energy drinks, gum, chap stick, some BBQ potato chips, and a Take 5 candy bar. He brought the items to the counter and took out his wallet.

"Can I get a couple of packs of Marlboro reds please? Some matches or a lighter if you have it too." 

"Sure thing, can I see some ID?" The attendant asked, as she grabbed the square pack of cigarettes from the shelf behind her.

"Ah...yes, I have a passport card, that will work right?" Jonghyun asked, his eyes meeting the attendants and it was the first time he saw her features. She was pretty. His eyes scanned her body briefly, and he saw a name tag, Jessica. He then set out to digging out his passport card.

"Yeah, as long as it's got your date of birth on it." 

"Okay. Here you are." Jonghyun said, as he handed his passport card over to the attendant. 

"Wow, you're all the way from South Korea huh? Are you a transfer student with the college?"

"Um. No. It's complicated." 

"Oh, you're a little too old to be a transfer student. You honestly don't look your age, here's your card back. Your total is $24.05." 

Jonghyun swiped his card and it was paid for. Jessica gathered all the items together and put them in a sack for him in which he carried out the doors. He pulled a pack of cigarettes out of the bag and a book of matches Jessica had so kindly put in the sack for Jonghyun and set out to packing his cigarettes.  
He opened the plastic overwrap on the box of cigarettes before flipping open the back and pulling off the metallic paper and pulling out a lone cigarette. He quickly got the cigarette to his mouth before striking a match and lighting the cigarette. It had been a bit since he last smoked. The first inhale of the nicotine laden smoke nearly made Jonghyun cough. He needed it though. He had been so stressed out with the whole thing with Crystal. 

He decided to go around a check out the downtown area, and when he had finished his cigarette he tossed it haphazardly out into street. He saw a bar not too far from the hospital, so he hopped in there. He still had about a half an hour from what he gathered before the bars closed, so he ordered a couple of shots of Jack and a vodka and sprite chaser. It was enough to get a buzz going. Taking one more shot of jack before leaving, Jonghyun left the little hole in the wall bar and decided it would be best to head back to the hospital for the night. 

About twenty minutes of walking and he found himself at the ER entrance, since the south entrance was locked for the night. Upon asking the nice lady at the ER desk directions he was on his way back to the ICU waiting room. Everything was how he left it. Crystal's phone was still charging and when Jonghyun opened her phone up, he came across over a thousand text messages causing her inbox to be full. He cleared her inbox and saw the large number of voicemails as well. He let out a breath, knowing there was no easy way of deleting those, he would have to listen to each voicemail and delete them. He let out a groan of irritation. 

Jonghyun turned to his own phone and saw that Jinki had texted him back. So, he opened the text message.

SM can't do anything. They've narrowed down the accounts to at least ten different users but they're creating new profiles as soon as they shut the old ones down. Let's not let this get to us Jonghyun.

So SM was powerless to stop them. Great. Jonghyun let out a breath and quickly texted Jinki back.

Just because SM can't do anything doesn't mean we should just lay down and let this abuse continue. 

Jinki's response was swift.

Jonghyun, don't do anything rash. Don't give these people anything more to go on. They feed off reaction. I'm warning you, whatever you're thinking about doing, don't do it. 

Jonghyun shook his head, he was going to take matters into his own hands. Despite Jinki's warning, Jonghyun wasn't going to lay down and let this innocent woman take the fall for something his band members did. So, he pulled up George's number and called him.

"Hello?"

"Hey, George, it Jonghyun, do you mind me posting a picture of Crystal up on my social media and taking a stand with her. It could help."

"I don't know. I don't think I'm comfortable with that. I mean she looks horrible right now."

"I want all this to stop as much as you do."

There was a pregnant pause. "Fine. I guess. Do it. I don't want this coming back to me."

"It won't. Thank you." 

So, with George's permission he grabbed some pictures of Crystal before the accident and took a picture of Crystal in her current state. Swollen face and all and put down this caption. 

_It's Jonghyun. You know I don't normally do this, but this needs to be said. Leave her alone. She is a fan of ours. She was a victim of an unfortunate accident. She does not deserve to die, leave her alone, leave her family alone. Find some other way to occupy your time other than tormenting her. I have read all your messages. Those in support, please continue to support us, this has nothing to do with you. It's the ones who are posting hate, posting death threats, and breaching her privacy are the ones I'm angry at. If you have any decency. Stop. I have every intention of protecting her, her children, and family. It's sad that this remains an issue, to kick someone while their down is a cowardly thing to do, just stop. Please support us in this hard time. We will continue to do the right thing in standing with her and her family. Thank You._

Jonghyun posted the message via his Instagram and Twitter. Now it was made known to everyone. Manager-hyung immediately called him as soon as the post was made public.

"Hello?"

"Jonghyun, why did you do this?"

"No one was going to step up, so I did what was necessary. I'm not going to stand by and let these people say whatever they want, steal her privacy, and do all that. She's not a celebrity hyung. She's a normal human being. She doesn't deserve this."

"You realize you put a bulls eye right on her now, don't you? When you posted, it posted the location of the hospital you idiot." Jonghyun was spell bound. Had he just single handedly made this situation worse? 

"I... uh...I wasn't thinking hyung..."

"No, you weren't. I got to go play damage control now. The local media is now aware of the story, they'll probably be there in the morning. Don't fuck this up anymore okay?" With that manager-hyung hung up the phone. Jonghyun pulled the phone away and stared are it for a moment in shock before gathering himself again.

He needed a cigarette, and bullet to his head. Right now, the latter will have to do.


	3. Waiting Game

*Five Days Later*

 

It had been five days since the incident, and it wasn't any easier. Everyone was short with each other, Minho and Taemin weren't on speaking terms and if Jonghyun ate McDonald's one more time he was going to punch someone. The press had been camping outside both the Hampton Inn and the hospital so going out on walks like Jonghyun had been doing wasn't allowed anymore. Nobody was sleeping well either. It was the price they paid, at least the press was leaving George and the kids alone. SM had leased three vehicles for the guys to use so they weren't relying on the hotel and expensive taxis for transportation. Luckily, all five guys managed to procure international drivers licenses when they all turned 19 so they were legal to drive. 

They were supposed to be taking Crystal off the coma inducing medications today. The doctors overseeing Crystal's recovery were optimistic she would awaken as her vitals looked great and the swelling went down. The shunts they placed inside Crystal's body were removed yesterday. George was exhausted, Key and Jinki had managed to sneak away and had gone over to Crystal's apartment to watch little Caden while George nervously waited for Crystal to awaken. Key set out to deep cleaning the place while Jinki took Caden out to the mall to allow Key space and time to clean. The other two children were in school. Little George only went for half a day, so Key offered to bring him to the hospital as soon as he got off his school bus. 

The nurses had stopped the IV medication at 7am on the dot and everyone was told that it could take anywhere from a couple of hours to a full day for the medication to work its way out of Crystal's body. They would have to be patient for just a bit longer. The nurse set a pitcher of iced water, since according to her, she would wake up extremely thirsty as a side effect of the medication.  
All too soon however, it was lunchtime, Key and little Georgie had joined them just a few minutes ago and he was cranky. 

"Aigoo, aigoo, it's okay Georgie...are you hungry?"

"E-eat? Okay!" 

"Guys, let's go to the cafeteria and eat. I don't think her stomach can go for anymore McDonalds."  
"Yes," Jonghyun said, just as he turned back toward George, who was holding his girlfriend's hand stroking the top of it. He frowned seeing George's downturn expression and swallowed down the urge to cry. "Hey, George, we're going to eat, want to come?"  
"Nah, go ahead without me." George said, as he stroked Crystal's hair tenderly. Even after all the surgery, Crystal had the front and most of the right side of her head still covered with hair. Jonghyun turned away, feeling tears flood his eyes by George's thoughtfulness.

Key spoke up this time, seeing Jonghyun get choked up. "George, you haven't eaten all day, come with us."

"Nah man, what if she wakes up? I want to be there for her. Just grab me something quick. I'm not leaving her." It was Key's turn to tear up now. He drew in a sharp breath, as he held Georgie's hand tighter. "I'll take Georgie and Caden then, if that's fine with you." 

"It's more than fine Key, thank you." George said, giving both Jonghyun and Key a thumb’s up before both Jonghyun and Key left with the kids. Jonghyun took Caden off Key, allowing the younger man to focus on Georgie. Jinki met up with the two men as they exited the ICU area.

"So what's up?" Jinki asked as he followed Jonghyun and Key towards the cafeteria.

"We're going to eat." Key said nonchalantly. Then Jinki noticed George wasn't with them and brought his eyebrows together in a questioning look.

"What about George?"

Jonghyun answered this time, as they all entered the cafeteria. "He insists on staying by Crystal's side in case she happens to come to."

Jinki shrugged. "I guess I don't blame him. If I was coming out of a coma, I'd want to wake up with someone at m y side." Just then Minho popped by with wide open expression and reached out for Caden. 

"Caden! Want to come sit with me?" This caused Caden to lean over toward Minho. The boy had taken a liking to Minho over the past couple of days. 

"Aish! I just got him and you're wanting to take him away from me." Jonghyun whined as he let Minho take Caden.

"Well you're grabbing food, aren't you? I can keep him entertained while you do that." Minho said, as he bounced the boy on his arm causing the boy to laugh.

"Fine. Be her guest." Jonghyun said, as he grabbed a tray, some silverware, and napkins and set out to fill it up with some food. Meanwhile Taemin came over and took Georgie away from Key coaxing the boy with a banana. 

Over the five days, they all had bonded with the kids. Even if Minho and Taemin weren't talking to each other they proved to be a great help when it came to keeping the kids occupied. George had let his guard down when it came to Minho and Taemin knowing it was all a freak accident. However, both Taemin and Minho were still blaming themselves for it. The lack of proper rest, made them all easily agitated, putting them in an environment where they had a limited knowledge of the language didn't help matters any either. 

Jonghyun scratched his chin and was reminded of the three-day old stubble he had forgotten to shave when he woke up this morning. He glanced over at Jinki who too, was sporting stubble. In fact, all of them hadn't shaved in days. Not to mention they hadn't had time to wash clothes. Jonghyun didn't want to admit that he was wearing the same underwear for the past four days. He didn't know if it was the same for the other guys. 

If Crystal came out of the coma, he would treat everyone to a day of pampering. He wondered if Minot had a spa or something similar and if he could have someone pamper Crystal here in the hospital. Lost in his own fantasy world, he grabbed a burger for George and himself along with various toppings for it and a couple of large sodas as well. Grabbing some fries, salad, and a couple of pudding cups he paid for the tray full of food and opted to join George in Crystal's ICU room.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Key shouted out, seeing Jonghyun headed in the opposite direction from where they were sitting.

"I'm going to sit with George. I told him I'd bring him food."

"Oh, well tell him we got the kids then." Key said, nodding toward Jonghyun. Jonghyun nodded.

"I will." Jonghyun said as he went into the ICU area with his tray of food and brought it over to Crystal's room. George saw him walk in and their eyes met for a moment before Jonghyun glanced down at his tray and grabbed a foil wrapped burger. "Hey, I got you a burger and fries..."

"Oh, awesome, thanks man." George said, as he grabbed the burger from Jonghyun. Jonghyun set George's food on the empty chair that separated them. "Dude, you even got me jalapenos for her burger too? How'd you know?"

"You said you liked spicy food." Jonghyun said, as he focused on fixing his burger the way he liked it. Just then George broke down. Jonghyun was puzzled by George's sudden reaction. "Huh? If you don't like them, you don't have to put them on your burger...omo...what do I do? Are you okay?"

"I see why she loves ya'll now. You guys have been nothing but nice to me, nice to her, nice to her kids, and gracious throughout this whole thing...I'm sorry man." George said, as he began sobbing. Jonghyun didn't know what to do, so he set his food aside and embraced the man, patting the man on the back soothingly.

"It's okay. It's okay." Jonghyun said, as he tried to console the man. George hugged Jonghyun back as he cried. Jonghyun then realized the man hadn't had a chance to really absorb everything going on in the past five days. George let Jonghyun go after a few moments passed, and Jonghyun stayed silent and let the man cry. George eventually was able to calm himself down enough to eat his food.

"Thank you. I mean that man, thank you guys for everything."

"You're welcome."

Just then Key and Minho came to the room with the two kids. They saw both Jonghyun's and George's expressions and looked at Jonghyun with a questioning look. George crumpled the now empty foil wrapper in his hands and threw it in the garbage. 

"I'm gonna stretch her legs and grab something more to eat. I'll see you guys in a bit." George said has he got up from his chair. Both Minho and Key moved aside to allow George through, but he paused to give his kids some love before heading out of the ICU.

"What happened between you and him? He looked like he was crying?"

"I think everything finally hit him. He hasn't really had a moment to process everything, with the kids and all."

"Ah~" Key said in a sing-song voice. "Well, I guess we'll go back to the cafeteria...we were going to drop the kids off with him."

"Oh, okay. I'm still eating in here. I'll join you guys when George comes back." Jonghyun said, as he finally finished putting together his neglected, cold burger. Both Key and Minho nodded as they disappeared from the door. Jonghyun ate with the only noise being that of Crystal's respirator. It was nice for a change, to sit in quiet like this. 

Upon finishing his food, he threw his trash away and gathered everything on the tray before setting it aside. He stood up and walked over to Crystal's hospital bed. Her dark brown hair was still damp from the bath the nurses gave to her earlier and the smell of mild soap radiated off her. He had the strangest urge to stroke her hair. It looked soft and inviting to him, he didn't know why. So, he carefully reached out as touched her hair, and that was when he saw it. 

Crystal's eyeballs fluttered under the flap of her closed eyelids. Jonghyun's breath hitched in his throat, as his hand froze in the middle of her hair. He watched her closed eyes like a hawk and this time her face scrunched up, in discomfort as a strangled noise came from her throat. Pulling his hand away he jumped back away from the hospital bed at the realization that Crystal was waking up. He quickly ran out of her room and grabbed the closest nurse.

"Hello, please come, she's waking up!" 

The nurse followed him and observed Crystal as her face began to make more pronounced motions. Jonghyun left the nurse there at her bedside and quickly went to track down George. He saw the man had managed to nearly finish another plate of food by the time Jonghyun got to him. George saw Jonghyun's expression and worry was stricken on his face.

"What's going on Jonghyun, did something happen to Crystal?" George asked, as he started getting up from his chair.

"She's waking up...hurry!" Jonghyun said, causing George to leave his tray sitting on the table. Key understood and quickly translated what Jonghyun said for the others as they all got up after George. 

All of them went into the ICU to find two nurses in Crystal's room. One was removing her breathing tube while the other was getting an oxygen cannula ready. Crystal gagged when the breathing tube was taken out and like clockwork, the second nurse was fitting Crystal with the cannula, causing her to finally open her eyes. Her vitals spiked as she panicked.

"Crystal, it's okay, you're in the hospital.” A nurse said, as she tried to reassure the woman. Her heart rate continued to spike though and was in the 120s now.

"Baby! Oh her God, you're awake!"  
Panic set it in Crystal tried to talk but couldn't as the breathing tube rendered her vocal cords useless for the time being. George rushed over to her side and the nurse moved out of his way. Jonghyun watched on and Crystal looked completely confused as the man moved toward her. It was as if she didn't know who he was. Crystal scanned the room was looked completely confused. Her eyes met Jonghyun's for the third time in a week and Jonghyun's heart reacted at the moment of eye contact. His chest swelled with emotion, squeezing his heart, lungs and upper back. Jonghyun sucked in a staggered breath to control himself and keep himself from crying. A nurse was shuffling through some drawers behind Crystal's bed before she pulled out a notepad and pen before handing the items to Crystal, but she was too weak to hold on them. She looked so lost and confused, like she had woken up on another planet.

She panicked again, this time her heart rate shot up to the 150s and the cardiac monitor because to sound an alarm declaring the change in heart rate and blood pressure. Crystal clutched her chest, and head before trying to get out of the bed but the nurse kept Crystal in the hospital bed as the other nurse shooed them all out of her room.

"She's having a panic attack, I'm going to see about giving her Ativan, it may be too soon for anyone to come and see her, she's very confused. It may be too much for her all at once."  
"Why would she have a panic attack though?"  
"We don't know how much brain damage there is...the x-rays and CAT scans only give us a one-dimensional look into her situation. She might not remember anything. She just woke up, let's give her some time. I'll let her doctor know she's conscious and we can see if we can get her evaluated."

"How long is that going to take? I just want her girlfriend back." George said, pleading with the nurse. Minho put a hand on the older man's shoulder. Everyone kind of stood in an understanding silence, giving George empathetic glances every so often while the nurse continued.

"These things take time sir. She had substantial bleeding, and a TBI she may never be the same..."

"Never be the same? She's the love of her life...and the mother to these children..."

"I understand that, just give it a bit more time. That's all I can ask of you. It's only been a week. Let us evaluate her and see what's up."

George was frustrated and could only nod as the nurse walked away back to the nurse's station to continue her tasks. Jonghyun looked through the glass floor to ceiling glass that made up Crystal's ICU room and his eyes met Crystal's again. They held each other's gaze until the nurse tending to Crystal pulled the blinds shut, blocking his line of sight. 

"I need to go for a drive or something you guys. Can you watch the boys..."

"Do what you must, George. We can watch the boys." Key said, as he nodded in acknowledgement. "We'll also pick up Jasmine if you want us to, have a day for yourself. We will be fine." 

George nodded and without another word, he left the ICU. Key had been talking about taking the kids to a trampoline park he read about online. Jonghyun agreed, perhaps they could all go there to get their minds off this mess and it would give the doctor a chance to look at Crystal. It was an idea anyway. 

It was Friday and the kids didn't have school the rest of the weekend. After they had picked up Jasmine from school, they headed over to the trampoline park. They had a blast. It was exactly what they all needed, but Jonghyun was haunted by Crystal's gaze. He didn't know what it was, something about it...shivers ran through him. He delighted in it and obsessed about it as Jinki went over to the pizza place next to the trampoline park and ordered a four pizzas to share, and to the guys' amazement, Georgie ate four pieces of pizza just by himself.

Jonghyun had finished three pieces himself before quietly slipping outside to have a cigarette, having put his shoes back on before eating. He grabbed his jacket and headed outside. Jinki wasn't far behind him however and joined him outside shortly after he got his pack of cigarettes out.

"Give me one." Jinki demanded, seeing the younger with a pack of cigarettes out. 

Jonghyun's face, knowing he had been found out, soured. He rolled his eyes at his hyung. "Aish, fine, here." Jonghyun muttered as he put a cigarette between his lips before fishing one out of the cellophane wrapped paper box and handing it to Jinki. "I thought you quit?" Jonghyun finished with a look at Jinki as he grabbed his matches, but Jinki produced a lighter out of his coat pocket. Rolling the flint wheel and depressing the ignition switch, the lighter produced a yellow flame with a blue base and held it up so Jonghyun could light his cigarette. Jonghyun leaned forward and lit his cigarette, inhaling the harsh, nicotine laden smoke.  
"I thought you quit..." Jinki said, glaring at Jonghyun as he put the cigarette Jonghyun had given him to his lips and lit it like the pro he was. "Ah~ nicotine." 

"I did." Jonghyun said, flicking the ashes off his cigarette. "This whole thing has me stressed out. I picked up her bad habits again."

"Ah~ me too. Fucking netizens and SM... they don't quit. I think I've gotten over five thousand new comments and all of them have been hateful. SM won't do a damn thing about it. You saw how they reprimanded you when you tried to take a stand. I don't like it. Sometimes I wish we were just regular people." Jinki paused to take a drag of his cigarette before his eyes met Jonghyun's. "You didn't take down your Instagram status, did you? Did manager-hyung ask you to?"

"Well, no. He said I painted a target over our head but didn't say anything about removing it. If we were ordinary people we wouldn't have met otherwise and none of us would be in this situation."

"Yeah, I haven't had a chance to drink, when did you drink?" Jinki asked, reading between the lines knowing his dongsaeng liked to drink, having an affinity for expensive foreign alcohol as well and had stopped recently as well.

"The night when we started getting harassed, I was waiting for Crystal's phone to charge...I got up and stretched her legs. There's a bar close to the hospital...I just had a few shots of liquor, just enough to get tipsy. Everything closes early here." 

"I've noticed! I tried to get some toothpaste last Sunday and all the stores wouldn't open until noon, something about some blue law...this place is weird." Jinki said, taking another drag of his cigarette. Jonghyun nodded in agreement, as he rolled his cigarette between his fingers. Both men were half way into their cigarettes and there was a moment of silence between them before Jinki spoke again. "Were you there when Crystal began waking up?"

"Yeah, noticed her eyes moving so I notified a nurse." 

"Ah~ tell me, I've noticed you hanging by her bedside more often these last couple of days. You're almost there as much as George is. I saw you staring at her, you didn't break eye contact. Are you fascinated with her?"

Jonghyun scoffed at Jinki before taking one last drag off his cigarette and flicking it into a nearby snowbank. "Aish, you make me sound like some pervert. I just want to be sure she's okay." Jonghyun said, taking some offense in Jinki's words, but Jinki smiled at Jonghyun and stepped in front of him so he couldn't go anywhere.

"Relax, I already know you like her, the night we all got here you couldn't wait to jump on the opportunity to see her again."

“Hyung, it’s not like that.” Jonghyun knew he was telling a lie. He didn’t want to admit the truth to himself, that he may be a bit obsessed with this woman.

“This woman, she has a profound effect on you. I can see it.” Just then Crystal’s gaze went flashing through Jonghyun’s mind again. The way her touch sent a shock down his spine that night He shook his head. It was so wrong how he was obsessing over this woman.

“I’m just…” Jonghyun stopped himself from saying obsessed and decided not to admit how he truly felt. I let out a breath and noticed Jinki “I can’t believe this accident has changed the course of her life forever, you know? It makes you think how fragile life is.” 

Jinki finished his cigarette before flicking it next to Jonghyun’s in the snowbank. “Life has always been fragile Jonghyun. No one is guaranteed tomorrow. Let’s get back inside. It’s freezing out here.” Jinki said as he opened the door for Jonghyun and they went inside, joining the others.


End file.
